this week i bumped into one of my neighbors and former patients
at the grocery store
she said i want to do a garden but my soil is bad
that i know since i have the same soil
i told her read my blog on thursday and ill explain
what to do
first
she needs raised beds since she has limestone just
under the surface
use concrete blocks to build the frame
i suggested she start with 3 across both ends
then 3 between these to form the other sides
like in this picture of my wifes shes school garden
go buy good garden soil
dont go cheap here
these soils at some of the soil yards have everything
in it to start with like fertilizer compost greensand etc
dump and plant is what i recommend
so if shell do that she is caught up with where i am
now as i plant my fall garden
hoping it doesnt get all washed away by the 7-10 inches
of rain we are expected to get over the next 3 days
our ground is so dry its like a humongous sponge
that might soak up a lot of this
remember
this is the best time to garden in this area
the fall and winter
so i planted these things based on what we like to eat
and what seems to grow well on the country n location
carrots beets lettuce spinach sweet peas swiss chard
multiply onions cilantro broccoli cabbage
brussell sprouts better known at poot balls by
someone i know
asian greens kale arugula
the lettuce spinach kale swiss chard i trim and eat
as we need it and it just grows back
giving us a fall winter of greens for our salads
now a few weeks ago i prepped my beds
by adding compost organic fertilizer a dusting of
cottonseed meal liquid molasses and liquid humus
covering it with a layer of mulch
letting it sit to ripen until i was ready to plant
i use ladybug brand of 8-2-4 organic fertilzer available
at local nurseries
other options are growin green by medina available at
nurseries and lowes or home depot
gardenville has a good organic fertilizer also
to my neighbor and former patient
your soil if you get the good organic bulk stuff
it has all this in there
just go ahead and plant it
poot balls asian greens kale arugula
in the middle of the beds i buried 5 gal buckets
with holes drilled in the bottom and every 6 inches
up the sides to allow me to water deeply and
to add liquid fertilizer when needed
i used this on my tomatoes this year and it did
a good job of getting them through the hot dry summer
remember i have deep in the bottom of all my beds
logs limbs cardboard twigs leaves newspapers to
hold water deep down where the roots can go
adding this earthworm castings to the hole
this stuff gives the new plants a real jump start
then i watered the plants with liquid sea weed
which has hormones and minerals that
stimulate rapid root growth
i like to use pine straw since it lets water through easily
and
covered it all with a black mesh sun screen
that blocks the sun since we have been
exceptionally warm this fall
as soon as the weather cools off ill remove it
with row cover to keep them from freezing
all this stuff will still be there
come march
giving us a good winter of fresh greens to eat
carrots beets spinach lettuce swiss chard multiplying onions
and sweet peas
i plant my spinach from plants since it can be hard
to get the spinach seeds to grow
the carrots and beets and lettuce i plant from seeds
heres how i do it
add several packs of different lettuce seeds
i use renees gardens seeds
then i sprinkle them over the area where i have the beds prepped
lightly sprinkling soil over them gentling packing it down
with my hands
ill replant more in 2 weeks
i do the same with the carrots and beets
i plant the sweet peas every 2 inches around the frame in the
middle of the bed
they will run up the tomato cage i have placed there
especially since lettuce does not like the heat
i will water the seeds daily if we dont have rain until
they are well established
dont let the soil dry out early on or the tender plants will die
i used garlic from last years crop
picking the best looking ones
overtime i will use country n natural selection to produce
a garlic better suited to our location
i also added a row of organic garlic from the natural gardener
to add diversity
picking the betst looking cloves
1 hookup sign width apart ie 6 inches
then i watered them well with sea weed
they almost take care of themselves
ill cover them with row cover when it gets real cold here
i planted 90 of them which is enough to last us a year
and provide cloves for planing next year
so folks
thats how i do it here at the country n
a method learned from lots of reading talking to other gardeners
listening to gardening shows
and
lots of trial and error mostly error
it sure seems to work well for us
the organicgreen doctor
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